Police summon 15, including soccer team players, at high school drinking party in Brunswick

BRUNSWICK, Maine — Brunswick police broke up an underage drinking party at a local residence Saturday night and summoned 15 Brunswick High School students, including several members of the boys soccer team, for illegal drinking.

Officers responded just after 11 p.m. to the area of Union and Pleasant streets in downtown Brunswick, where an anonymous caller to the Communities Against Substance Abuse tipline indicated the party was taking place, Brunswick Police Deputy Chief Marc Hagan said Monday.

Police found the 15 partygoers — all students at Brunswick High School and all under the age of 21 — in an unattached barn near the home of 18-year-old Satchel Toole, Hagan said. The students were allegedly drinking beer and mixed drinks.

Toole was charged with providing a place for minors to consume alcohol, a Class D misdemeanor. All other partygoers — twelve 16- and 17-year-olds, as well as Angelo Gerardi and Cormick Gaughran, both 18 — were charged with illegal possession of alcohol by a minor. All live in Brunswick, according to Hagan.

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Toole’s father was home at the time, but was not charged because he told police he was not aware of the number of teens at the party or that they were drinking. Hagan said police believed him, and added, “It does not appear as though attendees were drawing unnecessary attention to themselves.”

Toole and Gaughran are members of the Brunswick High School boys soccer team, according to media reports. The team is currently 8-5 after a win Friday against Lawrence High School and is ranked sixth in Eastern Maine Class A. The postseason begins Saturday.

A call to Brunswick High School Principal Donna Borrowick on Monday seeking information on the school’s alcohol policy was not immediately returned.